Cross-Country Evidence on the Relationship between Overwork and Skilled Women's Job Choices

摘要

We find suggestive evidence that the prevalence of overwork affects female labor force participation and occupational choice by reducing the desirability of the work environment for women with family responsibilities. This may provide an alternative explanation for the leveling off of female labor force participation rates in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which have seen particularly large increases in the prevalence of overwork over time. Furthermore, our findings suggest that occupational segregation and the paucity of women in certain sectors (e.g., the corporate and technology sectors) can be attributed, in part, to differences across occupations in the demand for long work hours and inflexible working conditions.